World Best players nomination.

Wales forward Gareth Bale is the only player
from the home nations on the 23-man shortlist
for the Fifa 2014 men's world footballer of the
year award.
Bale, 25, scored 22 goals for Real Madrid last
season, as the La Liga side won the Champions
League.
Five Premier League players in Thibaut Courtois,
Diego Costa, Angel Di Maria, Eden Hazard and
Yaya Toure have also been nominated for the
Ballon d'Or.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to retain the award.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who has won the award three times in the last four years, is also on the shortlist, alongside team-mate Neymar.
The 23 shortlist will be reduced to three in
December before the winners are announced on
12 January, 2015 in Zurich.
However, there is no place for Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, who played a crucial role in helping
Uruguay qualify for the last 16 in Brazil but was
suspended from all football-related activity for
four months for biting Italy defender Giorgio
Chiellini.
Suarez's suspension meant that under Fifa rules,
the 27-year-old, who was the Premier League's
top scorer with 31 goals in 33 matches for
Liverpool last year, was not eligible for the
shortlist.
In terms of Premier League clubs, Chelsea have
the most players on the list with three - Courtois,
Costa and Hazard, with Manchester United (Di Maria) and Manchester City (Toure) each supplying one.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich players dominate the list, with each club supplying six players.
World Cup winners Germany have the most
players nominated with six, with Spain and
Argentina three apiece and France and Belgium
two each.
Wales, Portugal, Sweden, Brazil, Netherlands,
Colombia and Ivory Coast each have one of their
players in contention.
Carlo Ancelotti, who guided Real Madrid to the
Champions League, Super Cup and Copa del Rey
last season, has been nominated for the coach of the year award.
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho, Manchester City's
Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester United boss
Louis van Gaal, who guided Netherlands to the
third place in the World Cup, are also on the 10-
man list for the coach award, alongside World
Cup winning coach Joachim Low

FIFA world best nomination list:

Gareth Bale (Wales, Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Spain,Chelsea), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium, Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), Angel Di Maria (Argentina, Manchester United), Mario Gotze (Germany, Bayern Munich), Eden Hazard (Belgium, Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Paris St-Germain), Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid), Philipp Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina, Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany, Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil, Barcelona), Paul Pogba (France, Juventus), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Arjen Robben (Netherlands, Bayern Munich), James Rodriguez (Colombia, Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, Bayern Munich), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast,
Manchester City).
Fifa coach of the year shortlist: Carlo Ancelotti
(Real Madrid), Antonio Conte (Juventus/Italy
national team), Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich),
Jurgen Klinsmann (USA national team), Joachim
Low (Germany national team), Jose Mourinho
(Chelsea), Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City),
Alejandro Sabella (Argentina national team),
Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal
(Netherlands national team/Manchester United).
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